Chronicle 1989

"The Wall … will still be standing in fifty and even a hundred years' time": that's what Erich Honecker is still saying at the end of January 1989. And the GDR does seem stable to most people at the time, even though the dilapidated condition of industrial plants, the old parts of cities and the roads, as well as the air and water pollution, all herald the imminent economic disaster. more

1989

1 November

Tens of thousands demonstrate in many East German cities, such as Neubrandenburg, Frankfurt (Oder), Freital and Ilmenau, calling for change.

1989

2 November

A day of resignations: the First Secretary of the Suhl SED district leadership, Hans Albrecht, and the First Secretary of the Gera SED district leadership, Herbert Ziegenhan, step down from office. Gerald Götting resigns as CDU chairman, Heinrich Homann as chairman of the NDPD (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands; Eng.: National Democratic Party of Germany) and Harry Tisch as chairman of the FDBG (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund; Eng. Free German Trade Union Federation).more

1989

2 November

In Erfurt, Guben, Gera and Halle, more than 10,000 people in each city demonstrate for reforms.

1989

3 November

Towards midday, GDR ambassador Helmut Ziebart is told by the Czechoslovakian Foreign Office in Prague that the CSSR does not intend to set up refugee camps for political refugees from East Germany.more

1989

3 November

At a special afternoon session, the SED Politburo votes in favour of a "proposal" by the Czechoslovakian Party leader, Miklos Jakès, to allow the 6,000 GDR citizens who are once more staying on the grounds of the West German embassy in Prague "to travel directly from the CSSR to the FRG without touching GDR territory on the way."more

1989

3 November

In the evening, Egon Krenz gives a television and radio address in which he stresses the SED’s willingness to carry out reforms (“There is no going back”), promises the speedy publication of the draft travel bill, announces the resignations of five Politburo members (Hermann Axen, Kurt Hager, Erich Mielke, Erich Mückenberger and Alfred Neuman) and refers to several points of the SED’s action programme, which is in preparation.

Krenz urges those wanting to leave the country to remain and appeals to all “citizens to stand together to preserve the values we have created over decades. Together we also want to start working on innovations. Only in this way will it be possible to reorganise our society step by step. In this spirit, allow us go to work with resolution and above all prudence, and to tackle and solve the many problems facing us. Wish us success, the required energy and good health for our efforts.”

1989

4 November

Media reports on this day focus heavily on the demonstration in East Berlin, but there are also protest rallies in more than 40 other cities and towns across East Germany.more

1989

4 November

The next morning, in conformity with the SED Politburo resolution of the evening before, the East German embassy in Prague gives GDR citizens a visa for travelling to West Germany, and assures them that their citizenship is not affected; every GDR citizen who leaves the country can return to the GDR.more

1989

4 November

In the evening, the deputy interior minister, Major General Dieter Winderlich, announces in the state television newscast "Aktuelle Kamera" that applications to leave the GDR on a permanent basis would also be processed "unbureaucratically and quickly" and only refused "in exceptional cases where legitimate state interests were at stake" – but almost no one believes him.more

1989

5 November

Over the weekend of 4-5 November, altogether 23,200 East German citizens leave the GDR for West Germany via the CSSR.more

1989

5 November

An action group makes a public call for a Green Party to be founded. In its statement, it says: "The Green Party in the GDR is on the side of all the forces working for democracy and freedom through radical reforms in our country. It is ecological, feminist and opposed to violence."

1989

6 November

The SED leadership publishes the draft travel bill as announced. The length of time people are allowed to travel is limited to thirty days a year.more

1989

6 November

1989

7 November

Because of the protests by the CSSR, the SED Politburo decides at its regular Tuesday meeting to put the section of the draft travel bill on leaving the country into force early and to draw up corresponding regulations.more

1989

7 November

The entire GDR Council of Ministers under its chairman Willi Stoph resigns.

1989

7 November

After consultation with the Chancellor, West German Chancellery Minister Rudolf Seiters informs Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski on the telephone of the following general stipulations, drawn up in response to the discussions of the previous day, to be passed on to the Chairman of the GDR State Council: if the GDR wants material and financial help from West Germany, it has to be willing for "the State Council Chairman to declare publicly that the GDR is prepared to guarantee that the formation of opposition groups will be permitted and affirm that it will hold free elections within a period yet to be announced.more

1989

8 November

More than 40,000 GDR citizens have left the country for West Germany via the CSSR. The pressure of the CSSR on the GDR becomes increasingly urgent. GDR ambassador Ziebart is summoned to the Czechoslovakian Foreign Office and handed a request.more

1989

8 November

In the Bundestag debate on the state of the nation, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl makes public the list of demands that Rudolf Seiters conveyed to the SED leadership the previous day via Alexander Schalck:more

1989

8 November

In the newscast programme "Aktuelle Camera" on GDR television, the author Christa Wolf directs an appeal to all those wanting to leave the country, asking them to change their decision and remain in East Germany:more

1989

9 November

9.00 a.m.
Four officers from the Ministry of the Interior and the State Security Service meet in the Interior Ministry at the request of the Politburo to draw up new regulations on leaving the country.more

1989

9 November

7.05 p.m.
The news agency AP issues the news flash: "GDR opens border"; DPA at 7.41 p.m.: "The GDR border … is open." The agency reports become the top news during peak news time on television and radio until 8.15 p.m.. The current affairs programme "Tageschau" reports "GDR opens border".more

1989

9 November

8.15 p.m.
According to a progress report by the East Berlin Volkspolizei, altogether 80 East Berliners have gathered at the border crossing points Bornholmer Straße, Invalidenstraße and Heinrich-Heine-Straße. Instruction to the border guards: to put the people off till the next day and send them back.

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1989

9 November

8.40 p.m.
End of the second day of the SED Central Committee meeting. Until now, the party and state leaders have not noticed the events occurring around them: neither the press conference, the media response to it, nor the rush on the border crossing points that is starting.

1989

9 November

9.10 p.m.
End of a Bundestag sitting.

1989

9 November

9.30 p.m.
End of the state banquet in Warsaw. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl hears of the events in East Berlin.

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1989

9 November

9.30 p.m.
Between 500 and 1,000 people have gathered at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing point. The State Security Service decides on a "valve solution", i.e. to let people through the border gradually.more

1989

9 November

10.00 p.m.
After the end of the Central Committee meeting, Egon Krenz has gone to his office in the Central Committee building. His main concern is that the Central Committee has not voted the way he wanted for the Politburo.more

1989

9 November

10.28 p.m.
A last attempt to put a brake on the developments is made on the late-night broadcast of "Aktuelle Kamera" on GDR television: "At the request of many citizens, we inform you again about the new travel resolution issued by the Council of Ministers.more

1989

9 November

10.42 p.m.
Television host Hanns Joachim Friedrichs starts off the ARD current affairs programme "Tagesthemen" with the following words. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. One should be cautious with superlatives; they tend to wear out fast. But this evening it is permissible to risk one: this ninth of November is a historic day: the GDR has announced that its borders are open to everyone as of now; the gates in the Wall are wide open."more

1989

9 November

11.30 p.m.
On Bornholmer Straße, the situation is becoming a threatening one for the passport inspectors. Thousands of people are pushing towards the border crossing point. The "valve solution" has proved to be unwise. When some are allowed to leave the country, the others who have to wait push and shove even more.more

1989

9 November

12.00 midnight
In the Soviet embassy in East Berlin, the envoy and deputy ambassador Igor Maximychev debates whether to inform Moscow that the border has opened. He decides not to do so to avoid any knee-jerk reactions.

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1989

10 November

0.20 a.m.
The commanders of the National People’s Army (NVA) are confused and do not know what to do. They prepare for all options, including the military one. At 0.20 a.m., they put the Berlin border regiments, around 12,000 soldiers, on the alert level "increased readiness for action". Because no more orders are given during the night, the commanders of the border regiments suspend the measures on their own responsibility.more

1989

10 November

1.00 a.m.
Between 1.00 and 2.00 a.m., thousands of West and East Berliners get through the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate and walk over Pariser Platz square and through the gate. People dance for joy on the Wall. The cement embankment remains occupied by several thousand people.more

1989

10 November

2.00 a.m.
The political and military leaders of the GDR do not make any public appearances during the night. The Interior Ministry announces that, as a "temporary measure", the border can be crossed upon presentation of identity cards until the next morning at 8.00 a.m.. This information is broadcast in the news on Radio DDR I from 2.00 a.m.

1989

10 November

7.30 a.m.
From the early hours of morning, Western media, particularly radio and television, report incessantly on the sensational events of the night: the breaching of the Wall at the Bornholmer Strasse crossing point and others, and the night-time party of celebration on the Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin.

1989

10 November

8.00 a.m.
Because of the massive crowds of people at the Berlin border crossing points, the attempt to restart passport controls from 8 a.m. – as publicly announced during the night – fails. At the same time, throughout the GDR, long queues form in front of the district offices of the Volkspolizei.more

1989

10 November

8.00.a.m.
At the command of Egon Krenz, an "operative leadership group" is formed, made up of leading members of the security apparatuses, the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee apparatus, its purpose being to achieve "control of the complicated security situation under the present conditions in the GDR and [to cope with] the resulting necessity of reacting to every further worsening of the situation quickly and appropriately."more

1989

10 November

9.00 a.m.
In the SED Politburo, according to Günter Schabowski, the mood is black. When Egon Krenz asks: "Who got us into this fix?", Schabowski finds the question spiteful. Schabowski later says: "I mean, that is a rhetorical question: only one person caused the trouble, and that was Schabowski. (…) It soon sounded as if I had somehow stolen the paper somewhere and read it out."more

1989

10 November

12.45 p.m.
During their first visit to the West, GDR citizens are directly confronted with the economic plight of East Germany, which is disclosed for the first time in the SED Central Committee: they wait in long queues in banks and offices to be given their "welcome money" of 100 marks so that they can buy something.more

1989

10 November

1.00 p.m.
The NVA leadership gives the order to the command of the National People’s Army’s (NVA) land forces to place the 1st Motor Rifle Division [Ger: Motorisierte Schützendivision] (Potsdam) and the Airborne Forces Regiment [Ger: Luftsturmregiment-40] (Lehnitz) – two NVA elite units trained in street fighting and equipped with state-of-the-art military technology – on "increased readiness for combat."more

1989

10 November

3.00 p.m.
To this day, nothing much is known about the concrete decisions taken in Moscow – but their result was plain to see. In the late afternoon, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze tells the international press that the Soviet Union regards the "events in the GDR as a matter for its new leadership and its people alone, and wishes them every success."more

1989

10 November

4.30 p.m.
On GDR television, Interior Minister Friedrich Dickel reads out an appeal to the people of the GDR from the Council of Ministers. The "dear citizens", it says, could rely on the new travel possibilities being permanent and did not need to "take any hasty decisions," adding that new border crossings were likely be set up in the near future.more

1989

10 November

5.00 p.m.
At a rally in front of the Rathaus (town hall) in Schöneberg, Walter Momper, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Willy Brandt and Helmut Kohl speak in front of 20,000 to 40,000 people. The West German chancellor, booed mercilessly by supporters of the SPD-Green Senate of West Berlin, emphasises the unity of the nation, but rejects radical slogans and opinions, calling on people to "remain calm and to act wisely."more

1989

10 November

6.00 p.m.
At an SED rally in the Lustgarten park in East Berlin, Egon Krenz promotes the programme of action that the Central Committee has just decided upon, and professes his commitment to the new travel regulations, interpreting them as an expression of the fact that "we are serious about politics of renewal, and that we give our hand to everyone that wants to go with us."

1989

10 November

10 November

6.00 p.m.
The Glienicker Bridge ("Bridge of Unity") between Potsdam and West Berlin is opened as the first new border crossing point.

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1989

10 November

7.00 p.m.
A briefing takes place in the Soviet embassy in East Berlin. In accordance with the instructions from Moscow, General Snetkov, the top commander of the Soviet troops in East Germany, leaves the soldiers in their barracks: 350,000 men.

1989

10 November

10.00 p.m.
Back in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn, Helmut Kohl phones the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and US President George Bush to tell them about what is happening and the happy mood in Berlin.

1989

10 November

11.00 p.m.
On the anti-tank wall at the Brandenburg Gate, however, aggressive tones and shouts of abuse mingle with the mood of celebration in the evening and night hours. Under the glare of the TV spotlights and with increasing alcohol consumption, the calls of "The Wall has to go!" become louder and the attempts to further this aim by means of sledgehammers become more energetic.more

1989

11 November

7.00 a.m.
In the early morning the situation at the Brandenburg Gate is threatening to escalate. After hours of hammering and chiselling, the attempt to remove the segment of the Wall bordering on the anti-tank wall to the south, tearing the first breach, is nearing success.

1989

11 November

8.00 a.m.
In Eberswalder Strasse in the north of Berlin, a new border crossing is opened. Later in the day, yet another new crossing is added on Schlesische Strasse/Puschkinallee between the Berlin districts of Treptow and Kreuzberg.more

1989

11 November

8.00 a.m.
On this Saturday, more than a million East Berliners and residents from the surrounding area pour into West Berlin. Traffic on the roads comes to a standstill and in the city centre, on the Kurfürstendamm and the Tauentzien, even pedestrian traffic is impeded.more

1989

11 November

9.00 a.m.
In Bonn, the West German government convenes a special sitting; Chancellor Kohl telephones now and then with the French president, François Mitterand.

At the same time in East Berlin, a special Party committee from the Ministry for Security begins a meeting. The special Party committee for the army gathers in Strausberg, near Berlin, the location of the GDR Defence Ministry. During this meeting, Defence Minister Kessler is handed information about the demolition action at the Brandenburg Gate; it suggests that the Gate is about to be stormed.

1989

11 November

10.00 a.m.
Defence Minister Kessler rings up the head of the land forces, Colonel General Horst Stechbarth. Stechbarth hears his minister ask him if he is prepared to march to Berlin with two regiments to clear the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.more

1989

11 November

10.13 – 10.22 a.m.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl telephones with SED General Secretary Egon Krenz. Krenz is of the opinion that the “concessions" made by the GDR have created a “good atmosphere" for solving problems in the economic area and with regard to travel.more

1989

11 November

1.00 p.m.
In the meantime, the situation at the Brandenburg Gate has calmed down: border soldiers have cleared the Wall of people without force and taken it over themselves; West German police seal off the access routes to the Wall area with vans.more

1989

11 November

2.00 p.m.
The West Berlin chief of police, Georg Schertz, and the deputy commander of the “Grenzkommando Mitte" (Central Border Command) meet at Checkpoint Charlie. Günter Leo thanks Schertz for the “calm, but determined and vigorous action" by the West German police that morning, which led to “a de-escalation of the difficult situation there". They agree to set up a direct line between them – it has been broken off for decades.

1989

11 November

2.30 p.m.
After the all-clear for the National People’s Army, the Ministry for State Security also returns to the routine it had before 9 November. At 2.30 p.m. deputy Stasi minister Rudolf Mittig revokes the obligation to be in constant attendance and ready for action that Erich Mielke had imposed on all ministry workers the day before.

1989

11 November

3.00 p.m.
In the afternoon and in the evening, Berlin is threatening to burst at the seams. The mayor, Walter Momper, feels that Bonn has left him alone to deal with the hordes of visitors and criticises the West German government at a press conference.more

1989

12 November

8.00 a.m.In the morning, not far from the Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam Square, which was once the main traffic artery of Berlin, another border crossing is opened. This leads to a further reduction in pressure on the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate. On this day, a million GDR citizens visit West Berlin.more

1989

12 November

The political movement "Neues Forum" (New Forum) calls on citizens not to accept the negative economic consequences that are to be feared owing to the opening of the border, and appeals to them: "Don’t be distracted by the demands for a political reconstruction of society! (…)more

1989

13 November

A ten-hour-long meeting of the GDR Volkskammer (Parliament): the representatives of the block parties withdraw their previously unconditional allegiance to the SED. Spokespeople from the DBD, the CDU, the LDPD and the NDPD demand that the SED’s claim to leadership as enshrined in the constitution be deleted, and call for free elections with a secret ballot.more

1989

16 November

The Soviet embassy passes on several "pieces of advice" from the Central Committee of the CPSU to SED General Secretary Egon Krenz. The suggestions it makes indicate that Moscow is keeping to its inflexible stance.more

1989

16 November

In Bonn, the Bundestag discusses the situation in the GDR and a possible reunification.more

1989

17 November - 1 December

The Volkskammer chooses a new government under Prime Minister Hans Modrow. On November 18, the "democratic coalition government" formed by the SED and the block parties starts work; nine of the now 28 (instead of the previous 44) ministers still come from the Stoph government.more

1989

19 November

On the second weekend after the Wall has come down, over three million GDR citizens visit West Germany and West Berlin, according to ADN.more

1989

21 November

Nikolai Portugalov, who works in the Central Committee Department of International Relations within the CPSU led by Valentin Falin, holds a conversation with Horst Teltschik, an adviser to the West German Chancellor. Portugalov tells Teltschik that he could imagine that, in the medium term, the Soviet Union could give the go-ahead to a German confederation, whatever form it took.more

1989

21 November

In a speech he gives at the inauguration to office of Mielke’s successor, Wolfgang Schwanitz, Hans Modrow explains his government’s ideas to the committee of the Office for National Security (AfNS), as the former Ministry for State Security is now called. He regrets the GDR’s awkward negotiating position with regard to West Germany brought about by the collapse of the Wall.

1989

22 November

The SED Politburo declares its willingness to follow the Polish example and meet with the block parties, citizens’ movements and the new parties at a "round table" to discuss ideas on free elections and a reform of the constitution.

1989

23 November

Günter Mittag, who was the Central Committee Economic Secretary until October 18, is barred from the SED. Legal proceedings are brought against Erich Honecker. – The GDR Council of Ministers decides to take measures against "racketeers and speculators".

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1989

24 November

Valentin Falin, as the head of the Central Committee Department for International Relations of the Foreign Ministers of the CPSU, holds talks with Egon Krenz and Hans Modrow in which he elaborates further on Modrow’s idea of a "Vertragsgemeinschaft" (union by treaty) – "and that it could go even further," as Modrow later recalled.

1989

28 November

West German Chancellor Kohl announces a Ten-Point Programme to the Bundestag. The programme envisages the gradual establishment of confederative structures over a period of five to ten years, with the aim of establishing a uniform federal order.more